NOVANEWS

Birmingham Against the Cuts statement on the Riots West Midlands Right to Work statement on the Riots: – Time to understand not to condemn

Martin Luther King Jr said: ”A riot is the language of the unheard’’ – wise words at a time when we need to understand rather than condemn.

Clearly these are shocking scenes which we have witnessed. The destruction of our communities takes many forms. Like all councils Birmingham council had their budget slashed by this Tory led government to pay for a financial crisis the people didn’t create. We have had cuts to Connexions and other youth services, cuts to Further Education places and Education Maintenance Allowance, we have 20% youth unemployment and over 200 charities in Birmingham have or are facing closure. There is clearly a pattern emerging comparable to the riots in Thatcher’s 1980′s when communities were deprived of investment and resources.

Cameron’s cure for the ‘sick society’ is more oppressive powers for the police and more cuts. The riots that have spread across the country need to be understood against the backdrop of racism, increasing poverty, inequality and restricted access to education.
Cameron says ‘It is clear there are things that are badly wrong in our society’ but has no understanding that his cuts agenda has created the tinderbox igniting in cities across Britain.

As John McDonnell MP and Honorary Chair, Right to Work said, we are now “Reaping what has been sown over three decades of creating a grotesquely unequal society, with alienated young copying the ethos of looting bankers.”
When young people have their hopes and futures ripped apart by government policies it should come as no surprise that frustration explodes into riots. We were not alone in predicting this kind of social explosion – during the election campaign Nick Clegg predicted riots if the Tories were elected. Government and bankers’ greed created both the economic crisis and the frustrations that have led to the riots. We call on everyone to support the TUC-backed protests at the Lib Dem and Tory conferences in the autumn and to step up the fight against the cuts, racism, poverty and inequality.